


Cruel (Beautiful)

by AppleWood



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, OOC, OOC Voldemort - Freeform, One-Sided Relationship, Soulmates, Unrequited Love, Voldemort-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 19:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5640013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleWood/pseuds/AppleWood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a Horcrux within Harry Potter, the soul fragment of Voldemort contemplates. </p>
<p>or- </p>
<p>“You must think it's a cruel world,” Dumbledore said. </p>
<p>"No, it's beautiful."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cruel (Beautiful)

 

Death wasn’t all bad, Voldemort thought to himself. He wondered why he had even ever been afraid of death, nothingness was nice. For the first time, he could feel no deep hunger within himself for more ( _power, knowledge, money, power_ ) or want for the death of those around him. In fact, he felt whole, more whole than he had felt even before he began to split his soul.

It was peaceful. At least, it was for the first few years after his death.

Then he began to look at his actions, without the ever consuming hunger that he had during life, he could no longer justify many of his past actions, though he refused to regret his past actions he felt something settle uncomfortably within himself, as if something had shifted.

The void seemed to curl around him then, as if to soothe him. Voldemort let it.  

\--- 

Voldemort was no longer sure that he was in a void, for the void seemed to shift, it seemed too _alive_ to be just a void. Every day, the void seemed more filled, colorful, almost, even though he could not see, it was as if he could _sense_ it. The void was changing…almost, _growing_ in a sense.

He was sure he was dead, however, or at least, this part of him was, as he was sure about his Horcruxes. But this part of him _had_ to be dead, he had been struck by a Killing Curse spoken by himself, there was no way a part of him couldn’t have died.

Maybe he couldn’t pass on, maybe this was some type of limbo because the rest of his soul was still anchored?

Or…maybe this is just how death went? It’s not like there was some type of book on how dying was supposed to work.

 ---

Voldemort lost count of anything, but he was sure it had been a long time when he felt the void tug at him as if it were asking him if it could borrow something. Amused, Voldemort let it borrow what it wanted, and for the first time he heard the void speak in the voice of a young boy.

_“Sorry about him, he doesn’t know what it’s like- laying there day after day watching people press their ugly faces against the glass.”_

_“C-can you hear me?”_

_“I’ve never talked to a snake before. Brazil is where you’re from, right? I bet it’s nice there.”_

_“Oh, I know how you feel, I never knew my parents either.”_

_“Anytime.”_

Voldemort was no longer sure if he was dead or not, nor if he should respond, but he felt too complete to truly care anymore.

 

 ---

It was odd, the void seemed to pulse a lot now with different emotions, they never really affected him but it was as if he could sense the emotions and tell what the void was feeling.

Recently the emotions had been in a constant weird shift between hope, frustration, acceptance and back again.

Now, however, there was a jolt of disbelief followed by joy and excitement so pure that it reminded Voldemort of a time when he was small and learned of Hogwarts ( _his home_ ). Voldemort sighed and let the void once again encompass him.

 ---

 

He felt something rush through the void, something full of rage and hatred, it was _himself_ , Lord Voldemort. But in a flash it was gone, leaving him alone once again, but also bringing memories, memories of a fragment that had been outside for eleven years. Including an image of a terrified boy with bright green eyes and a lightning scar on his forehead.

Harry Potter. He was a soul fragment trapped inside of Harry Potter while the rest of his soul was out there, still continuing his plans. It made sense, but at the same time it didn’t.

It explained why the void always changed and the emotions- he was embedded within the soul of a _child_ \- but it didn’t explain why he wasn’t dead. He hadn’t planned to make a Horcrux that night, the killings _may_ have cracked his soul, which explains how a fragment was able to escape and possess the defense teacher. Yet, he had never heard of a human Horcrux- it may be possible within a Muggle as a Muggle does not have magic as a defense system, but a wizard soul would recognize the intrusion and use its magic to eradicate the soul fragment. The soul fragment would easily perish since it’s the strength of a full complete soul over a small one.

If by some weird grace, Harry’s magic hadn’t attacked him, he should have started trying to take over by now, on instinct, sapping the boy’s magic and slowly destroying Harry’s soul. Yet he had remained in the same state.

The same (yet different), Voldemort concluded as he felt the void- _Harry’s soul_ \- shift around him.

 ---

Voldemort watched as the scene where he framed Hagrid played out before him and around him. It appeared Harry had stumbled across another Horcrux by fate. His diary that he had made when he was young.

He wondered if the Horcrux could feel his presence within Harry as well. Or if the Horcrux experienced the same feeling of calm and completeness being encased within a diary, or if it just felt cold.

 ---

With a start, Voldemort realized that he could see what Harry saw. _Himself,_ Tom Marvolo Riddle, at sixteen, currently faded but gaining color and reality with every second. He saw the diary, laying open, a basilisk fang within Harry’s arm, and the slain Basilisk laying a few feet away. Voldemort knew that younger him would kill Harry after regaining his strength.

Suddenly, Voldemort felt a sharp terror, more prominent than any terror he had ever felt before.

“ _The basilisk fang, kill the diary_ ,” Voldemort practically screamed in a panic, “ _Basilisk venom can destroy Horcruxes_.”

As if he had been able to hear him, Harry wrenched the fang from his arm and stabbed it into the diary. As Harry’s soul vibrated around Voldemort, weakened from the venom but thriving on victory, Voldemort had no qualms about his choice.

 ---

Harry’s soul continued to grow and mature, it was full of light and colors now, each new experience and person changing his soul to reflect Harry as a person. Voldemort looked at all that was around him and wondered if his soul had looked similar before he had broken it. (It probably hadn’t.)

Yet, Voldemort could only just sigh in contentment as Harry’s soul brightened and grew even more.

Harry’s soul was beautiful.

 ---

The dream was odd, Voldemort recognized the manor. Even the caretaker a little bit. He recognized the spell and what it did, and what this likely meant, but he wasn’t sure if he recognized himself as _himself_ anymore.

He could no longer recognize the ravenous hunger for power and revenge. He no longer saw the appeal of greatness and control over the world. He no longer felt hate for Muggles. Buried within Harry’s soul, it seemed he could only feel at peace. In fact, he could not even really remember how it felt to want to be a Dark Lord.

 ---

The change was sudden and apparent in Harry’s soul. It darkened and some of the colors seemed to fade and Voldemort knew instinctively that he had to have seen death.

And, as he once again saw out of Harry’s eyes for the second time, he saw Lord Voldemort, changed, warped, and twisted climbing out of a cauldron. As Lord Voldemort pressed a hand to Harry’s scar, Voldemort wondered if he sensed the piece of his soul embedded within.

As Lord Voldemort instead challenged Harry to a duel in front of his followers, Voldemort realized that Lord Voldemort could not really recognize him either, and wondered if _he_ was the one who was changed and twisted.

 ---

The mind connection was certainly perplexing, it was something Voldemort had not experienced before with any Horcrux when he was still in a body, then again, all of his Horcruxes had been inanimate objects. Still, the sheer amount of the dreams and the strength of the emotional connection was startling, and he was sure that someone had to establish such a connection through some type of mind magic before a connection _this_ strong was able to be in place.

Perhaps Lord Voldemort had done it through him, but Lord Voldemort had not even sensed or recognized his own soul fragment, and this soul fragment was not making any effort to establish a connection.

Still, Voldemort was just worried for Harry’s soul, as it was still slowly recovering from witnessing death.

He was sure he had read some whisper of natural mind connections before in some book on some shelf some years ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to fully remember what it meant.

 ---

Harry’s soul was enraged, and at the core was a sense of loss, all of it was stained with the death of his godfather. Voldemort was unsure if he had ever loved anyone enough to feel rage and loss this deep within himself, though something within him told him that he had ( _or could, would, did_ ), he couldn’t figure out who.

Suddenly, Harry’s soul was pushed against and he felt Lord Voldemort take over. He could feel Harry’s soul struggle against the powerful magic of the Dark Lord, but Harry’s soul was weakened.

Voldemort could feel the hunger of Lord Voldemort’s soul fragment calling to him once more, if he did, he could take over Harry’s body easily and destroy Harry’s soul for good.

It was a temptation that, in the end, was very easy to reject.

 ---

“I am going to die.”

Voldemort heard the words spoken by Harry loud and clear as it reverberated throughout Harry’s soul, and the panic he had felt years ago when facing the diary returned.

Harry could not die ( _he wouldn't let him die_ ), it was not an option.

Once again he was able to see out of Harry’s eyes, he saw Lord Voldemort grin triumphantly and bring his wand up to take away Harry’s life. ( _Why couldn't Lord Voldemort see?_ ) 

Voldemort embraced the feeling of being complete for one last time before letting go of Harry’s soul.

 ---

Voldemort let out a groan as he was reunited with the soul pieces that Harry had already destroyed, and turned to see Harry ( _only Harry could possibly be that beautiful_ , his mind supplied) talking with Dumbledore.

Harry turned to him and Voldemort could feel his _own_ patched together soul weakly calling for Harry to come closer, and suddenly Voldemort _knew_.

“You can’t save him, my boy.” Dumbledore interrupted Harry, drawing him away. Moments later, Harry was back to the land of the living to complete his fate and Voldemort was alone with Dumbledore.

“You knew,” Voldemort rasped out, feeling the loss of Harry so acutely that he wished he could rip apart his own soul all over again, “You must have known. The only way a magical human Horcrux could exist, the only way the mind connection could exist...”

“You must think it is a cruel world,” Dumbledore said, “That Tom Riddle Jr.’s soulmate was born fifty-four years after he was, after you mutilated your own soul so much that your souls could hardly recognize one another...and that he would be fated to destroy you.”

Voldemort felt another soul piece join him, intensifying the feeling of loss and he closed his eyes and thought of the last seventeen years, of watching Harry’s soul grow, of watching Harry grow, of feeling complete, of being in love. He loved Harry Potter.  

“No,” Voldemort said, as he felt his own soul become complete, Harry must have won ( _he took comfort in that_ ). He opened his eyes to stare at the space Harry had occupied only moments before, “No, it’s beautiful. Will Harry-?”

“Harry will be okay,” Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling now, “He will be able to live his life like most people who never get to meet their soulmate do- though, I do believe that a very small part of his soul will be missing something and he’ll never quite figure out who or what it is.”

Tom Marvolo Riddle heard the whistle of a train, and knew it was time to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hopefully this didn't terribly confuse anyone. I wanted to put out my own take on the whole Horcrux/Harry and soulmate spin. I don't believe any Archive Warnings apply, but if you feel I should include one, let me know and I'll gladly include it!   
> Thank you very much if you stuck through it!  
> Though I'm busy with college, I really want to get started on a Tomarry AU so we'll see where that goes.


End file.
